As the 2008-09 school year got off to a start, high school students at Gladewater High School in Texas were the recipients of new laptops to help them combine technology with their education. The main source of funding was from a grant for $500,000 from the Texas Education Agency's Vision 2020 program, which covered about 80 percent of the $625,000 cost. Almost 550 MacBook computers were distributed to every student in attendance at the high school, making Gladewater the first high school in East Texas to distribute laptops to all its students.

Students filled out forms and obtained parental permission so that the student could bring the computers home with them. The district's server will filter Internet content to help students stay focused on their job as students. The computers are district property and teachers have access to them to check on student use. The administrators and teachers are hoping that the students' parents will help monitor their children's Internet use.

"I think it's a really good idea and will help a lot," said one student. "We won't have to go to the computer lab every time one of the teachers wants us to use a computer for an assignment."

Source: News-journal.com, Grant helps Gladewater High connect students with laptops, by Angela Ward